


from the ashes we rise

by daddychilton



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 07:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2182797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daddychilton/pseuds/daddychilton





	from the ashes we rise

A red moon hung low on the horizon as a young Richie and Seth Gecko sat on the oil-top road watching the house where they’d grown up and the man that had raised and beaten them burned to the ground. His screams had died out some time ago, the last of which were choked with ash and flame in a swollen throat that sounded something close to gargling. Neither boy was sure how long they’d been sitting out there, and neither had spoken yet. The smell of burning wood filled their noses and pieces of pink insulation fluttered in the wind and fell in their hair.

It was damp and hot from the flames; mosquitos buzzed, frogs and crickets chirped, and the crackle-sizzle of the fire eating the frame of the house filled the night.

They wasn’t a neighbor for at least a mile.

The flames complemented the moon, Richie thought. He knew the Blood Moon would cease to be as red once it rose higher into the night sky, but until then, he would breathe steadily and relish the redness of everything around them.

Before he poured the lighter fluid over the carpet, before he felt it squelch beneath his toes and before the smell burned his nose, he thought long and hard about how much he hated his father. His anger and resentment was as palpable as the black bruises and cuts the covered Seth from head to toe. He felt nothing watching the man burn, and the only thing he felt right then, sitting next to his recovering brother, was a sense of peace, of contentment.

They were free of the monster that had plagued their youth with fists and bottles and anger—so much anger.

Richie took his brother’s hand in his and felt a coldness he didn’t expect. Seth was pale and quiet. His eyes never moved from the bonfire. He blinked slowly when Richie’s hand squeezed his own; his long eyelashes were misted with tears.

A beam snapped, sending a threatening echo along the empty pasture behind the house. They saw the beam, broken in half, fall to the ground. Soon after, the roof collapsed.

Seth wondered if that broken, burning beam had fallen on their dad.

Richie hoped it had.

Seth laid his hand on his brother’s shoulder and a small, shuddering sob shook his body. He didn’t know why he was so upset; he wanted to feel relief so badly, but only felt a gaping maw in the pit of his stomach. He felt like a black hole.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, tears streaming down his cheeks and staining the sleeves of Richie’s shirt. Their hands were still clasped. He could feel Richie’s heartbeat through his carotid arteries. It was steady, but leapt when Seth said, “You saved my life, Richie.” His voice was choked and sounded scarred.

Richie thought he may have inhaled too much smoke when they were running out the door, but he knew better than to believe that. Seth had lost something in that fire.

Richie smoothed Seth’s hair with his free hand and kissed his forehead.

“Yeah,” he said softly, “I guess I did.” The fire was beginning to die down, having eaten their home down to its foundations. Soon it would smolder. Richie wondered if they would smell something rotting if it rained.

There were still no sirens. No one had seen the blaze.

A gentle breeze swept over the pasture, creating a beautiful, ocean-like rippling beneath the red glow of the Blood Moon.

For a moment, there was a hush; it seemed as if all the life within a mile had fallen asleep. The only sound left was the sparse popping of the fire and the wind in the trees.  Seth let out a sigh and sat up, still holding his brother’s hand. He wiped the tears from his cheeks with his arm and turned to Richie.

“It’s just you and me, Brother.” He tried to smile, but he could only manage a weak grin.

Richie just nodded his head and closed his eyes. The crickets, the frogs, the fire all began their symphony again.

The evil that had so shadowed their lives had been cleansed by fire, Richie thought. They were white as lambs.

Well, at least Seth was, and that’s all Richie really cared about. He looked at his brother’s pained face, and saw the cut above his brow that he’d gotten only a few hours before. It hadn’t quite stopped bleeding – a single tear of blood slid down the side of his cheek and dripped from his jaw to his jeans. Richie licked his thumb and started wiping at the red line. Seth never flinched or asked what his brother was doing.

“Thanks,” he whispered.

“Sure.” The fire had become nothing more than smoldering embers. They were almost lost to the shadows and the pale red moonlight from above. Soon it would be dark.

“I love you, Seth.”

“Love you too, Richie.”

 

 

 

 


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